Here I am riding with the "gallery" at the Field Trial. The plantation owner let me borrow one of his Tennessee Walkers. That was one of the nicest horses I've ever ridden in my life! Four hours in the saddle (when I haven't ridden in a while) and not a bit sore the next day! A few minutes after this photograph was taken, the president of the club, knowing I was there to take reference photographs for upcoming paintings, invited me to ride behind the judges in front of the gallery. What a treat!

Here's a photo of a two hour ride Pete and I went on with our hostess, Ann, in Aiken, S.C. Ann's in front.

The gallery, Dog&Horse Fine Art.

Here I am with the new president of the American Academy of Equine Art, Lloyd Kelly, and artist Nancy Pellatt.

A photo at my reception with the publisher of the Charleston Mercury, Charles Waring III, and his wife, Susan. Charles wrote a wonderful article about my artwork that was front page news in his paper while I was in Charleston. It's soon to be on my website.

This is The Meeting House, where we stayed one night. The photo on the left is looking down from our porch.

The old Polo Club now a home for carriage horses

Charleston carriage ride

This dog pulled his handler and horse home.

When the dogs are done hunting sometimes they get to ride home!

A photo of Pete and our hostess, Maggie

Field Trial Photos

Here's a "brace" taking off

I have arrived home from the warm south to the cold, ice covered north. I made quite a few new aquaintances, drank too much wine and ate too much food. Once again, the show was a hit thanks to Dog&Horse Fine Art's owner, Jaynie Spector and the Charleston Mercury. Charles Waring III, wrote a very nice article about my art. If you care to read it go to my website.

Photography Tips

When I head down south on Wednesday I plan to take many reference photos and have a date with two Springer Spaniels for a commission. Here are a few photography tips when photographing your animals.

1) Take photos on an overcast day for better detail and color. The sun washes out the lights and frequently makes the shade too dark.
2) Make sure you're at the animal's level when taking the picture.
3) Just before you click the shutter, use an element of surprise, perhaps a white plastic bag for a horse or a squeaky toy for a dog.

This will be my last entry until we arrive home Feb. 20th. We have wonderful people moving in to take care of everything while we're gone. I hope to get some vacation photos up the week of our return.

Value Study

This photogragh is a rough sketch of my values (darks and lights).

Beginning the underpainting

The photo to the left is the same sketch with Naples Yellow over it in order to not make the white of the ground so bright. Clipped to the masonite panel are a couple of photos I'll be working from for my foxes.

The development of a painting

Here's the beginning of a painting I'm very excited about. I've already named it "Moonlight Romance". January and February are breeding season months for the red fox. We have a few on the farm. They leave a strong skunky odor this time of year which is very potent when I snowshoe with the dogs everyday in the woods and fields. They're also more visable this time of year and I frequently hear them barking for one another at dusk.

I've always wanted to paint a moonlit painting so I guess this will be the first one. These two foxes are running through the snow looking down at a village where there will be orange lights shining through the windows. Overhead is the moon casting a glow over the river. The New Meadows River runs behind our home and frequently I see the river moonlit late at night. It's beautiful! I have even seen foxes in the snow at this time.

This sketch has taken a long time to finish. Composing a painting can take as long as the painting itself. I usually use photographs but ended up just drawing the foxes the way I wanted them to run. As you can see, I couldn't decide where to put the moon. That's still a decision I have to make.

Here's a photograph of our front fields looking out the studio window. The horses are out there somewhere.

Here's a photo of part of my studio

First post in the life of an artist

After numerous requests, I've decided to start a blog. I thought this might be a fun time to start it as I have my fourth yearly one woman show at Dog&Horse Fine Art Gallery in Charleston, S.C. next week. The reception is Thursday evening, Feb. 12th, 5-7:30pm and the show will run for a month. This show is in conjunction with the Southeastern Wildlife Expo which takes over the entire city of Charleston Friday, Feb. 13th- Sunday, Feb. 15th. I have many of the paintings that will be exhibited displayed on my website : www.bethcarlsonportraits.com under "Upcoming shows". Quite a few have sold already which is good news, considering the economy.

I've been invited to a new Plantation while we're down there so I hope to have many more photographs for reference material for my quail hunting paintings.

From Charleston, we're heading to Aiken with the hopes finding some leads for a rental for next winter. We've also been invited to ride a brace or two in a Field Trial in Georgia and will do that with friends on their Tennessee Walkers. I'm going to take my camera along for the ride more reference photographs for upcoming paintings. So look foward to many photographs in a few weeks!